A word about

your Hosts

and Guides on your dog

sledding trip

We began running adventure dog sled trips after many years in the Alaska wilderness. Starting our sledding with a small team as a hobby which has grown to involve our whole family.

Here is a little background information on our family of 3 and our dogs:  We are Wayne and Scarlett Hall, son Matt and a nice number of friendly, energetic huskies. We began mushing as a hobby more than 15 years ago with our own dog and a few borrowed dogs.  It quickly led to a breeding program of raising our own sled dogs.  Each dog is special, each dog has a name and a personality, and each dog on its own could make someone a wonderful pet.  Our dogs are raised as part of a happy family.  They work hard for us all winter and they get their playtime in the summer.  They love to take walks, go for rides in the boat and runs thru the forests, heck even meeting up with the occasional porcupine, which for them is a blast, at least for a few minutes! 

Each dog is taught from a pup to come to its name, to sit and to whoa (stay).  So we do not hesitate to let them loose to run around because we know that they will come when called and are very happy to do so. 

Once we had developed our own sled dog teams we began yearly adventures into remote Alaska.  For up to 3 months, the three of us would be totally isolated in interior Alaska.  Dependant only on ourselves and the dogs.  We had no outside communication and the dogs were our transport, to haul our supplies and us from one remote site to another.  It was during these years that we learned our survival skills, because our lives actually did depend on our skills and ourselves.  There was no one out there to bail us out, no trail to follow, and no safe route to take.  We put in our own trails over miles and miles of wilderness forests and jumbled river ice.

We decided to put our skills and dogs to the test and Wayne ran in the 2002 Yukon Quest (a 1000 mile dog sled race) becoming the first musher, in the history of the race, to finish with all 14 dogs and received the Challenge of the North Award for his finish. He competed again in 2006 finishing 10th and received the Sportsmanship Award. In 2009 he ran his last Quest with a young 2 yr old team and finished a strong 15th with a team that had never raced before. 

Our dogs have proved over and over again their loyalty and love.

Nate Becker has come on board and been working with us for a couple of years. He has spent many years as a paramedic/fire fighter with the National Park Service. We highly value the skills he has brought to our group as one of our guides and friend.

"I am all the time asked what it is about this way of life that I so enjoy. The answer is simple: Mushing dogs in this part of the world is the most "real" endeavor I have every undertaken. There is nothing contrived about running a team of Alaskan Huskies through this inhospitable land. In essence, this is the most "alive" I have ever been." -Nate Becker

Matt Emslie who has guided for us for a number of years is taking time off to spend a couple of years with his wife Julie in the Peace Corp.

“My greatest passion has always been the outdoors. After experiencing diverse landscapes, I have come to find my home, here in the Alaskan Bush. Here, with my dogs, I find a great satisfaction and joy of life. By living remote and following a simple lifestyle I am fulfilling a lifelong dream. It is heartening to know that I create very little impact on my surroundings and the landscape that gives me so much.  This is my contribution to our world.”  —Matt Emslie

For those of you interested in learning some cold water survival skills here are two sites that have information you might need for yourself or to pass along to someone.

http://www.exn.ca/video/?Video=exn20020325-icewater.asx/

http://www.yukonman.com/cold_water.asp

CONTACT: For more information and/or questions e-mail us at bushalaskaex@starband.net or bush_alaska_expeditions@hotmail.com ask for our brochure or write us at:  Bush Alaska Expeditions, P O Box 161, Eagle, AK 99738.  No incoming phone calls due to the remote location but there is Internet access via satellite. Phone calls can be arranged via computer and satellite. 

OCT-NOV-DEC each year finds us at our American Summit Base Camp.  Our internet access is limited to once every 7 to 10 days.  Please contact us with any questions but also be aware that during that period you may not receive a reply for a period of time depending on weather and travel conditions.